Friday, April 28, 2006

You Vill Laff Or You Vill Die!

It's Friday. We all need a laugh. You will laugh. This here is a free speech zone for me and only me. And if you leave a comment saying you're not laughing, I can simply delete it so that you can't impose upon my freedom! Free speech for MOM only - it's a wonderful, democratic thing.

Why would anyone divorce a person who is still their friend, and should they have a ceremony and gifts to mark the occasion? And if you have broken your promises in getting married, are promises made at a divorce ceremony any more likely to be kept?

This may sound boring, but I found it funny. Is this the "candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker" school of energy policy?

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, acknowledging that his nation’s campaign to develop nuclear weapons has ruffled feathers internationally, said Iran would abandon nukes in favor of bird flu bombs, which he claimed are just as effective and far less expensive.

“I think we're going to parity, it's only a matter of time,” Dennis Gartman, author of the Gartman newsletter, told Bloomberg Television on Friday. “Why shouldn't Canada go to parity? It has what the world needs. It has water, it has oil, it has steel...you name it, Canada has it.”

Others aren't so sure, given an expected slowdown in the U.S. economy and some forecasts that oil prices are headed lower. Royal Bank of Canada said Friday it expects the currency to ease to 88.50 cents in the second quarter.

The loonie rose as high as 89.41 cents (U.S.) Friday from yesterday's close of 89.04cents.

You have to be a strong, confident country to refer to your currency as the loonie. I suspect that the Globe and Mail tries to sex up the news deliberately. These are two headlinks (I made that word up, if you are wondering) right next to each other:Analysis: Tough love puts provinces on noticeRelated: Wilkins credits warmer relationsIt sounds a bit like an S&M marital therapy seminar - tough love leads to warmer relationships? Here are some other headlinks in today's Globe and Mail site continuing the same theme: Canadians turn to Bonk. Porn stars to act in new reality TV show. That last might confuse you (isn't the point of reality shows that no actors are needed?) so they include the helpful explanation "Porn stars to act on London stage in new reality TV show". Ah. Now the TV reality show has actors performing on a stage. The verisimilitude. (I did not make that word up.)

This is a great roundup. Can we hope for this to become a weekly event?

Re the Canadian dollar, I was once told that at least once year, the Bank of Canada allows the loonie to float high, so that the American dollars can be purchased by the snowbirds, those Canadians that head south for the winter.

Allowing the loonie to rise can save up to 20% over those who don't take advantage of the higher loonie.